Assault Suit Valken And Metal Slug Fans Should Enlist Against This Gigantic Army

While there is a time and place for super-sized, overpowered mechs that can pretty much destroy the galaxy by themselves, I also actually rather enjoy more realistic mechs such as the ones on offer in new mech side-scroller Gigantic Army.

I mean, it gives me hope that someday, possibly, I too might be able to accidentally stumble into the secret testing facility hidden underneath my apartment when an alien menace appears. I can hope, right? After all, this game did manage to get itself localized from the Japanese version.

Gigantic Army is a sprite-based game that shoves you as part of the TDF Ground Troops army, suited up in a “GMR-34 Saladin” mech, a versatile weapon of destruction against the invading Ramulons. That’s not a typo, and no, we don’t know if they are or aren’t related to the Romulans either. We do know the Ramulons are invading Earth during the 21st century and you’ll need to battle your way through and drive them off, adapting different weapon attachments such as cluster bombs and pile bunkers.

Oh, and because hugeass mechs are expensive, you also get to hang on to a barrier shield that can reflect most beam and other attacks from foes. Considering I always hate being caught out in the wrong spot, this is an innovation that could save my quarters (If this game were an arcade game that is)

Gigantic Army is spread across six stages, with battles against those GIGANTIC robots you were suspecting to be true from the title as bosses. The game has also been rebalanced from the original Japanese version, said the devs. If you happen to cough up the $5.99 the game is going for, they also give you some downloadable assets to print out a Super Nintendo retro-style box to store the game in as well as label art for burning to a DVD.

And Assault Suit Leynos II on Saturn… And that’s all i think, there isn’t a lot of game like that unfortunately !

Matt Dickinson

And the remake coming to ps4! :)

GH56734

Cybernator IS Assault Suit Valken.
I recommend either the Japanese version (was re-translated by fans) or the uncensored US prototype.
Also, check the hg101 article about this series, some of the clones surpass the originals.

I know Assault Suits Valken’s title wasn’t the only thing the US release butchered (there’s an important plot scene that’s cut because it ends in a suicide), but there’s an English proto that keeps it in?

GH56734

Didn’t get to that part, but most of the options from the Japanese text (and the portraits) are still there, and the text is different and more faithful. Didn’t get to that part yet with that highly politically-incorrect-for-NoA scene.

vincent_vincent

Reminds me of Votoms

RedFayt

Downloaded the demo, games awesome!

s07195

But will you character die in 1 hit? XD
(Seriously, I can barely see much relevance to Metal Slug, just the same genre.)

Kenny Loh

I come in and though there another game that similar with metal slug but just find out this is not my type of game, lol

Personally, while I have enjoyed this game, and the art style (for it’s resolution) being simply fantastic, I still think this game lacks in some areas. So that I’m not outright bashing the game, I’ll go over each point in some detail…

Lack of weapon variety
– While I think that having three weapons and sub-weapons to choose from is a decent number, the actual choices themselves don’t feel all that unique. Beginners will clearly choose the spread shot, whereas more advanced players will likely choose the others. I wish they could have developed these choices a little further.

Mobility can be a pain
Sure, you are controlling a mech, and unlike what tropes of anime define, these hunks of machinery will logically move slower than average. But I find that the recommended controls can feel a little ‘too’ stiff. Trying to move and angle your weapons on the one stick might be hard for some, and the dash mechanic – while a good idea – really emphasises how sluggish normal movement feels.

Difficulties didn’t feel all that different gameplay wise
– This is more of a personal quiff on my back than a legitimate complaint. My background into these types of games does stem back to the likes of Metal Slug. The difficulty replicates that in which a higher difficulty probably just means “you die quicker”… at least, that’s how it feels. I might be asking much, but nowadays, I do expect higher difficulties to provide their own unique experience instead of just dying quicker, such as frequency of bullets on screen, or wider spread attacks, giving you more reason to use your manoeverability to its best. Sadly, this game lacks that feeling for me, even making the laser-beam remain as an OHKO for most bosses.

These are the main things that came to mind, I don’t want to critique the music due to the game’s setting, but it’s not necessarily favoured for me personally. Other than that, I really liked the mechanics, and variety in challenges presented. I just think there should be more variety for the player, rather than only the variety of the game world changing.

Though I recommend picking this one up! It’s priced very reasonably for what it provides and I really enjoyed it, but you might be left wanting more than what you can get from the game, so bare that in mind guys.

Godmars

You realize that you’ve done an in-dept review of a $6 game right?

Pity that games like this could use a bit more polish, but then would you pay $20 for it?

I also made a guide for a temporarily £3.50 VN too, I’m used to it :D Though I totally agree, with a good polish, I’d happily invest at least $15 into Gigantic Army, though it would all depend on how fleshed out it became.

If we’re talking unlockables, very minor gameplay tweaks and incentive for replay value, I would easily be on board there.

Göran Isacson

Very nice little post here. It’s a bit disappointing to hear that a small scale game like this didn’t make the weapons and bosses as unique as they could have, but I think I’d still like to try it out. Cybernator clones are far too few in my opinion, and for those bosses I can weather some slight sameyeness to the battles.

xxx128

Looks like gunhound to me which already was a clone of valken.

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